2017 Geriatric Caregiver Conference for Professional and Family Providers

General Information:

Communicating with older adults can be difficult, but communicating with those who have even mild cognitive impairment can be overwhelming. Part of this year’s Senior Expo includes a unique opportunity for both professional and family care providers to learn from experts in the field of dementia care. The speakers and trainers are geriatric specialists from the State Office of Aging and Adult Services, Dementia Assist, the Alzheimer’s Association, University of Utah, Health Insight and Intermountain Healthcare.

Who Should Attend the Professional Caregiver Track

Professionals in the field of aging including primary care physicians, residents in all medical disciplines, APRN’s, RN’s, PA’s, specialty practice doctors who care for older adults; assisted living, rehab and skilled nursing employees, social workers, psychologists, home health staff, palliative and hospice care personnel, and any other area who provides services for older adults.

Who Should Attend the Family Caregiver Track

The Family Caregiver Track will be treated to a special performance of Portrait of a Caregiver, an “ethnodrama,” using the documented conversations of real family caregivers as the script of this powerful one act play. The conversations were recorded in a series of caregiver support groups with the permission of the participants. Support groups provide a space for family caregivers to discuss many facets of the their life experience: frustration, exhaustion, loss of personal identity, humor and heartbreak. This literary device allows the real words and feelings of family members who care for elder relatives to be shared with the audience in an authentic way.